As the czar of Colorado’s marijuana program, Barbara Brohl says she is neither pro- nor anti-pot. But she believes the legal market for the drug is eating into the black market, funding drug abuse treatment and prevention and providing a safer product.

The roughly $200 million in tax revenue from more than $1 billion in sales last year funds all that, she says, plus provides $40 million for schools.

A Civic Federation-sponsored event Wednesday addressed questions that have been on the mind of many amid recent crises: Is Chicago the next Detroit, headed for municipal bankruptcy? Can – or should – the Chicago Public Schools go bankrupt?

While restructuring may have its appeals, it’s an expensive, complicated process that doesn’t solve the whole of a municipality’s problems – and in Illinois, it’s nearly impossible.

Chicago Public Schools CEO Forrest Claypool said Wednesday that “we’ll know exactly where we stand” on a potential abrupt end to the school year after a Cook County judge rules next week on two key motions affecting the district’s education funding lawsuit against the state.

The ongoing lack of clarity about the length of the academic year in a school district clawing through its latest budget crisis came as Mayor Rahm Emanuel declined to say if City Hall might intervene in the district’s fortunes absent a favorable court ruling or miracle deal in Springfield.

With rumors swirling about whether City Hall is prepared to bail out Chicago Public Schools itself, Mayor Rahm Emnuel today wouldn’t say if a CPS closure as much as three weeks early still is a live option.

“I’m not doing any hypotheticals,” Emanuel replied when asked whether he will allow schools to shut three weeks early if CPS doesn’t win a pending court case alleging discrimination by the state or get Gov. Bruce Rauner to relent and release $215 million for CPS pensions that he vetoed.

The Chicago Board of Ethics on Wednesday found there is probable cause that eight more individuals and the companies they represented broke the city’s lobbying laws for actions revealed in Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s personal emails — a substantial expansion of the number of potential lobbying violations now under review.

The sharp increase in cases follows a Chicago Tribune report last month that found Emanuel’s personal email accounts have served as a private avenue of influence for lobbyists, corporate executives and campaign donors who sought action from — or access to — the mayor. The Tribune found 26 possible instances where individuals contacted the mayor or city officials but did not register as a lobbyist or report that contact to the ethics board.

The Chicago City Council on Wednesday voted down a controversial measure that would have exempted people working for aldermen as independent contractors from city ethics rules, including disclosure of who else is paying them.

Noting that one of every four traffic accidents across the nation is caused by texting while driving, a pair of powerful aldermen say it’s time for Chicago Police officers to use new technology to stop it.

Finance Committee Chairman Edward Burke (14th) and Transportation Committee Chairman Anthony Beale (9th) introduced a resolution at Wednesday’s City Council meeting for the police department to look into using a so-called “textalyzer” to detect whether motorists involved in injury-related accidents had been distracted by their cellphones before the crash occurred.

The Chicago Department of Aviation police force — which includes three officers who boarded a United Airlines flight at O’Hare Airport and dragged out Dr. David Dao — would no longer exist if an airline skycap-turned-alderman has anything to say about it.

Ald. Ray Lopez (15th) introduced an “order” at Wednesday’s City Council meeting that would mandate the Chicago Police Department and the city’s Department of Aviation “identify means for the consolidation” of the two law-enforcement agencies.

The City Council on Wednesday approved a $160 million program to re-light Chicago — but only after shining the light on Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s murky, pay-as-you-go financing plan.

Instead of using his much-ballyhooed-but-slow-starting Infrastructure Trust to attract private investors to bankroll the four-year conversion of Chicago’s 270,000 outdoor lights, the “smart lighting” program is being financed by Chicago taxpayers.

City Hall today formally moved to glitz up O’Hare International Airport’s hotel scene, seeking bidders to renovate and take over management of the existing 860-room Hilton, and build and operate a new 300- to 400-room inn across from the International Terminal.

The request for proposal came nearly a year after the city first announced its plans; action on a proposed third hotel apparently is being deferred for a while.

Metra’s looking to add at least 25 new rail cars and 10 locomotives to its fleet, a move that could reduce service delays and costs while improving air quality, the transit agency announced on Wednesday.

A budget surplus as well as money from state bonds will bankroll the purchases.

The Decatur Park District’s tentative budget for next year shows an unexpected decrease in revenue for the Overlook Adventure Mini Golf Course, though the Nelson Park facility is expected to make more money next year with the addition of a ropes course and batting cages.

The park district’s 2017-18 annual budget likely won’t be approved in its final form until June. It has to receive preliminary approval from the Decatur Park Board at the May 3 meeting, then the budget ordinance be on display for 30 days before it can be officially approved by the board.

The Decatur Township Cemetery Board potentially violated the Illinois Open Meetings Act when it failed to post its agenda in public view for at least 48 hours before a controversial meeting Tuesday, according to a media attorney familiar with the act.

The three-person cemetery board voted unanimously at the meeting to eliminate the executive director position that oversees Greenwood and two other cemeteries under township control.

Anger, frustration, fear and confusion about the relocation decision announced by federal housing officials this past week spilled over into a routine tenant meeting Wednesday that was held at the Alexander County Housing Authority’s Connell F. Smith high rise building on the Ohio River.

Towanda Macon, a Housing and Urban Development public housing administrator assigned to oversee the ACHA while it is in federal receivership, told the residents that a relocation specialist is already working on site in Cairo and taking appointments to meet with individuals and families to help them prepare for moving.